Finding Their Way
by britt06
Summary: Just another Red Eye fic...it's my first fanfic, so I would appreciate any comments. I hope you enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

It was spring. Miami was gradually finding its way back to its intense heat, and the trees around the city were soon flushed in deep green. Lisa relished in the warm sunlight that greeted her every morning, and allowed it to relax her every evening as she left work.

In the weeks following the red eye to Miami, Lisa had been painstakingly careful with every move she made. She changed her locks and upgraded her alarm system. She even invested in a handgun and kept it hidden in her bedroom. She was alert and anxious all of the time; even when she slept, her nights were restless and the sleep was light. Her father was concerned, of course; although he didn't think she was overreacting, he did not want his daughter to spend her time in constant, obsessive worry. However, as time went on, she relaxed. She knew that if something were to happen, her precautions probably would not prevent it, and that by letting her worry control her, she was letting _him_ triumph.

She knew Jackson was alive. She knew he was not in custody. Neither of these things surprised her, although she didn't understand how they had come to be. He should be dead after what he had been through. If anything, he should be in prison for what he did. But somehow, he'd slipped through the system; she supposed it was inevitable that he would.

She longed to have back the fear that had diminished within her. Her fear separated him from her. Her fear and her knowledge of what he was capable of should have been a shield for any other emotions that could arise. But that spring she left her windows open just as she'd done in past springs. It certainly wasn't an invitation, nor was it resignation to the fact that he'd return and possibly hurt her. It was simply her deliberate accordance with her normal, routine actions.

And finally, when she woke up in the middle of one warm night, she felt time expand into an eternity as her slowly opening eyelids revealed to her two bright eyes directly across from hers.

At first, she thought she might be dreaming. She thought she was in the mysterious daze of being half awake and half asleep. Lisa had seen those eyes in the back of her mind since the red eye. She could not explain why they were always there. In her mind, they were not even icy or cold or angry, despite how much she wanted them to be. She didn't want to remember anything outside of the cold violence. Instead, though, they were simply unexplainable and expressive. They mirrored the look in his eyes as he lay on the floor in front of her with two bullets in him and a hole in his throat. That look in his eyes haunted her more than anything else. Was it regret in his eyes? Resignation? Admiration?

Slowly Lisa's mind cleared from the haze of sleep. She became aware of the tick of the clock in her living room and the quiet hum of bugs outside her window. In the distance, a car horn beeped. Her eyes remained fixed on the eyes of the face that lay across from her, on the pillow next to hers. His face was only about eight inches away from hers, and as she calmly realized she was not dreaming, she found herself listening to the slow breathing of her bedmate.

She wasn't sure how long they lay there, blue eyes gazing into brown. Finally she lost the period of tranquility that had engulfed her as her awareness took hold.

"Why?" she whispered. _Why what_? She wondered to herself, immediately after the word escaped her lips. Why was he here? Why was she not in hysterics? Why had she been waiting for this?

He did not say anything for a long while. Then his full lips opened and his voice, quietly gruff and weary, touched her ears. "Because we need to leave."

Lisa swallowed and looked down.

He got out of her bed, and she fully became aware and anxious. She sat up in bed, pulling the sheets up against her. He opened her closet and tossed her a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He was suddenly holding a small black bag and began tossing some clothes into it. Trembling, she slipped the jeans on and pulled the t-shirt over her spaghetti-strap pajama top.

He zipped up the bag and stood at the foot of her bed in the moonlight. She sat on the side of the bed, looking off into the distance, unable to look at the man in front of her, her eyes glimmering with a hint of tears that she would not let fall.

"Let's go, Lisa," he said, and took her arm. She let him lead her down the stairs of her apartment building and out into the dark of night. He led her to a silver SUV and suddenly Lisa snapped in action. His grip on her was not very tight, and as quick as lightning she slipped out of his grasp and took off down the street.

Jackson did not yell for her to come back, but simply silently sprinted after her. He was fast and it did not take him long to grab her arm. He drew them out of the street and into the shadows and shoved her against the brick wall of an old abandoned apartment building. She struggled to free herself from his firm hold, but he was too much. His eyes cut into her and her head dropped, unable to hold such an intense staring contest.

"Lisa, I am not here to hurt you," he said, his face close to hers. " But you need to come with me."

Her legs began to feel faint under her, and she began to collapse to the ground. He swiftly caught her and tried to steady her, but once again she began to crumple to the ground. "Leese," he sighed, and finally picked her up in his arms. She let him do it and did not struggle; she could not find the energy. He opened the door to the SUV and placed her inside, on the passenger seat. His hands quickly fastened her seatbelt, and he closed the door and walked around to the driver's seat.

Jackson turned on the engine. The clock read 2:42 am. Lisa felt wide awake as he pulled onto the northbound interstate. Silence filled the car until Lisa finally spoke.

"Do you plan on telling me where we're going, or what's going on?"

Jackson didn't bother to glance at her. "We're going to St. Louis."

"St. Louis?" Lisa exclaimed. "I have to work-"

"It's Saturday morning. Later today you can call your work and arrange a week long vacation."

Lisa looked out the window at the blackness. The car grew silent once more until he continued.

"Believe it or not, Leese, but you're with me for your protection. The organization that hired my company to do the Keefe assassination isn't too thrilled about my little failure." Jackson shifted in his seat. "If the company doesn't do a separate job for them before next Tuesday, then they'll be after me and unfortunately, you too. They wanted to capture you themselves. We convinced them to allow my company and I chose to do it as soon as possible because I don't trust the organization."

"But why would they want to use me?"

Jackson fell silent again.

"Well, they were originally going to make you do another job. After all, they knew about my record. And when I protested, it made things worse. I didn't mean to make it worse," he said slowly. "I just didn't want to bring you into it again. But if it makes you feel any better, they'd probably still have had you kidnapped."

Lisa didn't say anything, and after awhile Jackson said, his voice quiet and patient, "Why don't you try and get some sleep? There's a blanket in back."

Lisa was about to protest but her eyelids were beginning to grow heavy and she reluctantly took Jackson up on his offer. She grabbed the blanket and reclined the seat slightly. She let the strange comfort of Jackson at her side and the sound of the highway beneath them lull her to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi all! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to put my comments in the same text box as my chapters but...I'm doing it anyway. Thank you to my reviewers! Blushing sigh: I didn't mean to disable the anonymous review option. I didn't even know it was disabled...haha. But, I changed it. Thanks for letting me know. I was worried about the characters being OOC, especially because I hadn't seen the movie in awhile when I started writing (Although I did get to see it at a cheap theater last night, which was awesome.) Reading all of th fanfics has softened the characters in my mind. I'll try to be better about keeping them in character. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. :)

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Chapter Two 

When Lisa reopened her eyes, she was surprised to find it was mid-morning. Memories from the night before came flooding back to her as she surfaced from a deep sleep.

"Someone must've been tired."

Lisa sleepily turned to her companion. "Mm," she mumbled. She was sore from the uncomfortable position and she wanted a shower badly. "Where are we?"

"We just left Birmingham," he replied. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head, although immediately afterward wondered why she had said no. She was starving.

"Well, we can stop later if you want."

"Aren't you tired?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm ok."

"I can drive for awhile if you want."

He smirked. "I'll pass."

"You don't trust me," she realized. She supposed she didn't blame him.

He looked at her briefly. She flinched a little in surprise as his fingers suddenly grazed her cheek. She immediately tensed up. He sensed it and quickly brought his hand away.

"You surprised me, is all," she said quietly, referring to her start at the touch of his hand.

"I don't blame you," he said flatly, with a little shrug. "If someone had tried to kill me and someone close to me, I probably wouldn't want him to touch me either."

A few moments later, they heard the sound of Jackson's cell phone vibrating. He picked it up. "Yeah?" Jackson listened, his face growing darker. "Fine. There's not much we can do now, is there?" He hung up the phone, angrily throwing it to the floor of the car.

Lisa knew it was better not to bother him, but asked boldly, "What's going on?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We just have to go to another location once we get to St. Louis. But we either go there or you get stuck with some other men from my company, which is not going to happen," he said. "This other location will be a good deal more dangerous, and we will have no protection. And if my company fails their little job…well, we'll cross the bridge when we get there. But it may involve a good deal of running." He looked at her with a sarcastic squint of his eyes.

Lisa swallowed but nodded. "Where…where are we going?"

"In St. Louis, we will take a private jet to a place forty miles south of Sacramento, California." He accelerated and changed lanes. "I have instructed our place to be nothing but the best."

Lisa nodded again, and soon they entered the outskirts of St. Louis and he was exiting. He stopped in front of an old warehouse and led her inside and up some stairs to an office, but before going in he quickly ushered her into a darkened side hallway. He forcefully pushed her back into the wall, and she whimpered slightly.

"Do not say a word in there," he warned, his eyes flashing darkly as he gestured towards the office. "Do you understand me, Lisa?"

She was taken off guard by his sudden change in demeanor. She struggled to be confident in her reply, but her voice trembled slightly. "Yes."

He started to back away but then came close to her again, this time with a strange softness. He placed his hand on her cheek and smiled very slightly, allowing the hint of fondness to shine only slightly through his angular features and potent gaze. Just as soon as the brush of affection began, it was over, and he led her back to the office and opened the door, where two men sat at desks.

They both looked up; one went back to his work, no expression on his face. The other asked, smirking at Lisa and eyeing her, "Is this the girl?"

Lisa felt Jackson's hand slip to her back and he stepped slightly in front of her. "Yes," he answered. "When will the plane be ready?"

"Six in the morning," the man said, walking around the desk he'd been sitting at to Jackson and Lisa. She leaned discreetly into Jackson and his arm tightened around her. The man handed Jackson a folder, then turned to Lisa and put two fingers under her chin, lifting her face and inspecting it. His hand dropped, lightly but deliberately brushing Lisa's breast as it fell to his side. Lisa stepped back, this time not caring about how obvious her movement was. The man laughed but was quickly silenced by a look of pure venom from Jackson. Jackson turned, practically dragging Lisa out of the office, and closed the door behind them. He half-shoved Lisa down the stairs with him, holding her so firmly to him that she stumbled. "Let go of me," she snapped as he ushered her out of the warehouse, struggling against his iron grasp. "What the hell-"

He suddenly slapped her and the harsh sting brought tears to her eyes. She felt anger rushing to her reddened face, but he kept walking. She took the opportunity to slip away from him and took off. She didn't know where she was going, but all she knew was that she had to get away, fast. She heard him curse after her as she ran in the direction of the main road. If she could get someone to see her, to help her-

He tackled her from behind, forcing her into the harsh gravel. She struggled against his grip and managed to shove her knee into his stomach, but he barely seemed to notice and simply pressed her legs down with his own. "I was wondering why you weren't putting up more of a fight," he growled. He straddled her and turned her around, grabbing her hands. He jerked her arms back and she cried out in pain. She felt a tight rope slip wrap around her wrists. When he was finished, he pulled her up from the ground, gripping her arm hard enough to bruise it.

He shoved her into the car and closed her door before walking around to get into the driver's side. With a squeal of the tires on the driveway; they skidded back onto the main road.

The rush of emotion from the events of the past few minutes caught up quickly with Lisa. She felt a low desperateness swell deep within her, and wondered vaguely how she had survived this long without breaking down. She was far from home with a dangerous man and with the uncertainty of whether or not she'd even be alive the next day. In a few moments she had been reminded her captor was still far from a comfort, and yet, he was all she had. Anxiety surged through her as tears streamed down her cheeks. There was nowhere to run. There was nothing.

Jackson realized she was crying and his voice, low and mocking, spoke to her. "Sorry Leese, but you'll have to pull it together and get over it."

Gasping for air from her sudden shortness of breath and from her throat tightened from crying, she could not reply. She buried her face in her hands. Soon afterwards she felt the car lurch to a halt, and Jackson cut off the engine.

"Time to go, Leese."

She lowered her hands from her face and Jackson caught site of her, and once again his character seemed to reverse. She looked completely miserable, with red, swollen eyes and her face blotchy and tear-soaked. Her shirt was caked with mud from where she had fallen. Jackson went around to the other side of the car and when he helped her out, he wasn't as harsh. He placed a hand on her back in an almost comforting manner and led her to what appeared to be a small, private airport.

Dusk was falling, and the two-story building seemed empty. Jackson pulled a key from the envelope and held the door open for her; they stepped inside. The building was dark; it seemed nothing more than another old warehouse. She wondered how he even knew where he was going. He led her up some stairs and produced another key from the envelope. He unlocked the door and swung it open, and turned on a small light just inside the doorway. They stepped inside, and he closed and locked the door behind them.

The room was decorated just like any other ordinary hotel room, with two beds, a small table, and a television. Lisa stood near the door, unsure of what to do with herself. He disappeared into a small hallway, and when came out he turned his attention to her. "I will untie you," he said, walking up to her, "But if you so much as look like you're thinking of trying something funny, I will tie your arms and your legs."

Lisa sighed miserably and turned so he could untie them.

"There's a shower through there," he said, nodding to a small hallway. "You may take one if you wish."

Lisa gladly accepted and took her things into the bathroom. It was small, but clean. She observed quickly that anything that might serve as a weapon had been stripped from the room. Even the towel rod was gone. She took a long shower, letting the warm water calm her aching muscles and her shot nerves. She dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and brushed her teeth before walking back out to him.

He was lying on one of the beds, reading a book, when he looked up at her. He set it down and stood up to meet her.

"Leese," he murmured, approaching her and taking her arms in his hands. "I hope I can trust you to not do anything stupid while I'm sleeping. I promise you it will create tons more trouble for you if you either run away or hurt me, because then you will be taken care of by someone not nearly as nice as me." He smirked slightly. His tone was calmer now, and he seemed tired.

"I won't do anything," she said, and she meant it. It was no use fighting him, and besides the fact he had basically kidnapped her, she had no reason to fight him. He didn't seem to want to hurt her; if he was telling the truth, the only reason she was with him was for her own protection. But still, why would he be concerned with protecting her? She had almost killed him. The question almost frightened her.

The light suddenly cut out, and Lisa heard the sheets on the bed beside her rustling. "Go to sleep, Leese," he mumbled. "We have an early morning tomorrow."

Lisa did as she was told, but the black pressing down around her felt suffocating. Anxiety gripped her, and she wondered vaguely how she'd ever get through the night. Her mind drifted to Jackson, just as it did almost every night as she drifted off to sleep, regardless of whether or not she was near him. Her mind replayed the events of the red eye, and to the airport in Dallas. She couldn't help but wish for that man back, the man she'd met at the airport, but she knew she never would. Even if there were something behind Jackson's possible concern for her, she'd never be able to see him as simply funny or kind. She'd never be able to feel anything for him without the added feelings of guilt and even disgust to make everything more complex. And yet, just like those months after the red eye, she could not make her fear and disgust of him the only thing she felt when she thought of him. Despite how she wanted to feel about him, the mere fact that she was unlike anything she'd ever known intrigued her. She sighed, and struggled to clear her mind. Gradually, she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
